No. 8 St. David beat No. 9 Williams 56-16 Friday night at home in the first round of the 1A Conference state playoffs. The reward for the Eagles is a visit to No. 1 Hayden next Friday night in the quarterfinal round. Williams won the eight-man state championship in 2019 but Mogollon took control of the conference over the next three years until Hayden dominated the state last year with a 12-0 record that included a 62-30 win over Mogollon in the state final. Williams knocked Hayden out of the state playoffs in 2019, 2021 and 2022 but the Lobos are 31-1 since the 2021 season and they are heavily favored to win it all again this year.

The 56 points scored by Desert Christian? It’s impressive for sure but that score isn’t even in the top 20 over the last five years in the 1A Conference where teams have scored over 80 points in the playoffs once, over 70 six times and over 60 16 times. Still, the Eagles improved to 6-3 in their inaugural season and a victory at Hayden might be near impossible but the journey will stay with these young men forever.

In other 1A playoff action, No. 7 Lincoln Prep beat No. 10 Desert Heights Prep 40-35 and the Lightning (7-2) will travel to No. 2 Bagdad (8-1) in the quarterfinal round. No. 5 Mohave Accelerated beat No. 12 Salome 36-22 and the Patriots (8-2) will play at No. St. David (8-1). No. 6 El Capitan (6-3) will face No. 11 Superior 5-4 Saturday morning in the last first round game. The winner there will play at No. 3 Mogollon (7-1) in the quarterfinal round.

The semifinal round will be played at Coronado High School on Nov. 8 and 9 and Coronado will host the state championship game on Nov. 16.